(“Damn, I did Nazi this one coming. Yeah, I know, go fuck myself…”)
Sure, it would have been nice if Strikeforce did a simple Google search to see if Brandon Saling had any skeletons in his closet; even if they looked at one photo of him before last Saturday, they might have noticed that his tattoos were of the “history buff” variety. But now that the truth is out regarding Saling’s past — which includes a 2004 conviction for having sex with a 12-year-old — at least we can be sure that we’ll probably never see this walking-turd compete in sanctioned MMA competition again*.
According to an MMA Weekly report, the Ohio Athletic Commission has revoked Saling’s fight license after last weekend’s event in Columbus for failing to disclose his past criminal background on the licensing application he filled out in February for a previous fight under the NAAFS banner. In addition to being listed as a registered sex offender in the state of Ohio, Saling was also convicted on domestic violence charges stemming from an incident in 2008.
New Jersey State Athletic Control board counsel Nick Lembo also confirmed that their commission has pulled Brandon Saling’s license for “failure to disclose and failure to answer truthfully.” Saling competed twice in New Jersey last year, including a loss to Gregory Milliard on the preliminary card of Bellator 59 in Atlantic City.
Speaking to MMAFighting, Dana White weighed in on the Saling situation: “Obviously this guy is never going to fight for us ever again, and he might not ever fight again. I know he has been suspended by both states and then all these other commissions follow a suspension from other states. And for this guy to ever get licensed again he’d have to go for a hearing for the athletic commissions. I find it hard to believe that this guy will ever be licensed again so he better go find another job.”
* At least in the United States. Saling can always move to Finland, where the Fight Festival promotion still books Niko Puhakka on a regular basis. I’m just saying, it’s an option.